Second Life user hours drop in August
By Adam Reuters
SECOND LIFE, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The total number of hours spent within Second Life declined by nearly 1 percent in August, the first drop in a year and a half, according to statistics released by Linden Lab on Tuesday.
The amount of time spent in-world by Second Life residents fell by more than 185,000 hours in August, for a total of about 23.5 million.
It was only the third month-to-month decline in Second Life’s history, and the first since February, 2006, when total user hours were just over 2 million. The number of active users — defined as those who spent at least one hour in Second Life during the month — fell 3.8 percent to 540,151.
The ranks of premium users, who pay a monthly fee in order to own land, rebounded to 90,600 from 88,797 in July. However, the number of premium users in August still fell short of the June figure.
The United States extended its lead as the country with the most active Second Life users, adding 8,234 for a total of 157,289, or 29.1 percent. The remaining top 10 countries, including Japan, Brazil and the United Kingdom, all had fewer active users in August than in July.
Signs of a Second Life slowdown have been apparent throughout the summer, with declines seen in the number of active users, 30-day logins and user-to-user transactions. It is not clear if the slowdown is seasonal, due to technical faults or if it represents a broader shift in Second Life’s rate of expansion.
